This morning, an Airbus A320 of Lufthansa's daughter airline Germanwings from Barcelona destined to Düsseldorf International Airport never landed.
I'm shocked. Right now, writing this blog post, I am crying. And my thoughts are with the passengers of Flight 4U9525 and their families, the Gymnasium of Haltern, their staff and students, and the exchange students' host families in Barcelona. Those students and the babies - for an unknown reason, they didn't get a chance to live, to learn, to progress, to love and to live their dreams.
Earlier I was driving (below speed limit for the first time in my driving history) and attempted to imagine what it would be like to sit in an airplane, fully aware that I would crash and possibly die.
What would I think about? How would I try to uplift myself and the people around me one last time?
A horrible situation like that is incomprehensible for my 19-year-old frequent flyer mind. I tried to imagine what I would regret most in my life and what I would do better if I got a second chance.
I guess my heart would be focused on those precious people in my life that I love: my family, my boyfriend (this is hypothetical, so I might as well have a boyfriend) and my friends.
It's strange that all that matters in the end really isn't money and social status, even though that seems to be pretty much everything people aspire to these days. I don't think my bank account would ever cross my mind. Or my suitcase and all my expensive clothes and make-up in the cargo.
I admit that I've been quite discouraged with my life these days. The fact that I graduated almost a year ago and the feeling that I haven't really advanced at all since then, the knowledge that I'm putting my education on hold for 18 months to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints. The loneliness I feel all the time in my apartment.
However, when I think of the souls that lost their mortal bodies in the A320 aircraft this morning, I am so grateful for the chance I have to live and to choose and to change. I am grateful for the knowledge I have that this life doesn't end with death. I know that there is more to our existence than the few years we have here. I am so grateful to know that whoever I lose on earth, I will see again hereafter. I am grateful for a God that loves us enough to grant us this experience.
My biggest regret would be not to have been as happy as I could have been. With all that I have been given, there is no reason for me to complain or to minimize my potential happiness.
Hardships make us stronger. Let us all pray for the families that were destroyed and the hopes and dreams that were crushed today. God bless them. And may we all use the time we have wisely.
